A MAN who aimed an imitation rifle at armed police was within moments of being shot, a judge told him.

Earlier, Nicholas Hemmersley's terrified wife and teenage children had hidden in a cupboard when he armed himself with a metre-long sword and said he would "chop them up".

As they hid, Hemmersley's 16-year-old daughter used her mobile phone to call police. During the siege that followed the 47-year-old repeatedly aimed an imitation AK47 assault rifle at them from a window.

He was told by Judge Christopher Plunkett he was "extremely lucky" not to have been shot by one of the specialist firearms officers before he eventually surrendered.

He added: "You are exceptionally fortunate to be standing in the dock rather than buried somewhere."

Hemmersley had admitted affray and possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

Leicester Crown Court heard that Hemmersley, who lived with wife Karen and their children Lewis, 18, and Jodie, 16, in Coventry Road, Burbage, for several years, had been plagued by severe migraines, which led to depression, treatment at a mental health unit and the loss of jobs.

Alan Murphy, prosecuting, said Hemmersley's problems were exacerbated by heavy drinking and his daughter described his behaviour as sometimes "abusive and aggressive".

On the day of the incident, his wife's birthday in March, Hemmersley began drinking cider at midday - against the advice of doctors.

His daughter criticised his drinking and a row broke out which led to Jodie going to her room to watch television.

Mr Murphy said her mother joined her there but Hemmersley, having gone out to buy more alcohol at around 8pm, kicked the door off its hinges, hitting his wife, went into the room and kicked the TV, which hit his daughter.

Mrs Hemmersley and her daughter ran up to Lewis's bedroom in the converted attic as Hemmersley went downstairs to fetch the metre-long sword.

Mr Murphy said: "He was very angry. He shouted up the stairs: 'I'm going to dice you up, chop you into little pieces'.

"Although it was actually a film prop, all three were terrified and shouted at him to calm down. They have since said they thought they were going to die."

Mr Murphy said it was then that the family hid in the cupboard.

Mr Murphy told the court: "A stand-off lasting over two hours developed. The defendant replaced the sword with an imitation AK47.

"Officers were deployed out-side with their own guns. One watched him come to the ground-floor window and raise the weapon to his shoulder, pointing it at the officer.

"He thought the threat was so high he contemplated shooting the defendant. He repeated this a few minutes later and did so a third time. A few more seconds and he might well have been shot."

Hemmersley eventually left the house, saying he wanted the police to shoot him, but put the imitation weapon down when armed officers surrounded him.

He was arrested then taken to hospital because of concerns over his mental health.

Later he told police he would never harm his wife or children and that the weapons were both film props incapable of hurting anyone.

Felicity Gerry, in mitigation, said Hemmersley's wife was now divorcing him, and his children no longer wanted to speak to him.

Imposing a three-year supervision order, the judge said that normally a lengthy jail sentence could be expected in such an incident but he was satisfied it said more about Hemmersley's mental health than "any criminal intent".